Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance allied Members of Parliament will on Monday hold protests outside Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) offices.
They will demonstrate against the interdiction of IEBC Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ruth Kulundu.
The legislators had given the electoral agency 48 hours to rescind its decision. Led by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, 17 lawmakers accused IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati, Commissioners Boya Molu and Prof Abdi Guliye of victimizing Kulundu.
They claimed that Ms Kulundu was interdicted for “standing for the truth” in the August 9 polls.
Read: Azimio to Defend Four “Rebel” IEBC Commissioners – Kalonzo
Wandayi said that Ms Kulundu was interdicted before she could respond to a “show cause” notice issued to her over alleged “persistent demeanor and outright misconduct in the past weeks.
Kulundu was accused, among other things, of calling a commission plenary meeting on August 26 without the approval or delegation by CEO Marjan.
The meeting was attended by the four commissioners; Vice Chair Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang’aya, who contested the results of the presidential election announced by Chebukati.
During the said meeting, the four dissenting commissioners settled on lawyers Paul Muite and Issa Mansur to represent the commission in a presidential election appeal filed by Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua.
Read Also: Four Dissenting IEBC Commissioners Break Silence After Supreme Court Verdict
Marjan also accused Kulundu of impersonating him and abusing his authority by carrying out tasks that should have been performed by the CEO’s office.
Additionally, she was said to have issued threats against commission employees in violation of IEBC guidelines and code of conduct. Acting Director of Voter Registration and Electoral Operations Moses Sunkuli is one of the complainants.
Kulundu was given 14 days to reply to the claims that Marjan deemed to be gross misconduct and a serious breach of her employment contract in the show cause letter dated August 29, 2022. If found guilty, Kulundu risked being fired from her position.
Her interdiction came just a few days after Cherera and her team, were booed by commission staff during a commission post-election evaluation retreat in Mombasa, further widening the commission’s already-existing cracks.
The terms of Chebukati, Molu, and Guliye expire in January of next year, with two petitions already submitted to the National Assembly seeking the removal of Cherera and her colleagues.
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